Kovacevic: Don't like call on Marsh? OK, flag him for idiocy

If Cassius Marsh hadn't invested a cup of coffee in Pittsburgh this past summer, none of this would've happened.

Or hey, maybe it would've, if only because someone capable of an act this stupid, senseless and selfish in this setting could conceivably do it anywhere.

With 3:35 left in the fourth quarter of what wound up a 29-27 win for the Steelers over the Bears on this Monday night at Heinz Field, Marsh, a backup linebacker who'd been added to Chicago's practice squad just a week ago, sacked Ben Roethlisberger. And it was, as sacks go, no big deal. The Bears' secondary stripped away all of the receiving options, Ben was forced to move forward in the pocket, and he could've been wearing a bow as he collided with Marsh.

That was going to force fourth-and-15 and a punt from midfield at a critical time. Instead, Marsh would get flagged for taunting, and 15 yards, plus a fresh set of downs was awarded to the home team.

Here's the scene:

Marsh bounces up from the sack and makes a karate-kick gesture in the general direction of the Steelers' sideline but nothing that could've been definitively interpreted that way. Then, because that wasn't enough -- or because no one in that direction noticed or cared -- he took seven strides toward that sideline.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.

All while his teammates had been well off the field and while the Steelers' punter, Pressley Harvin III, was running past him.

That, my friends, is stupid, senseless and selfish. Serves no purpose beyond momentary ego gratification and does nothing to help the Bears' cause even if he gets away with it.

Why didn't he?

The Chicago media corps sent a pool reporter to interview Tony Corrente, the referee who threw the flag.

"First of all, keep in mind that taunting is a point of emphasis this year," Corrente replied, correctly stressing that 2021 marks the beginning of a heightened and highly publicized push to eliminate taunting from the game. That includes standing over someone, posing and, really, anything that's aimed at the opponent.

It'd be impossible to counter that this doesn't meet that standard of taunting.

"And with that said," Corrente continued, "I saw the player, after he made a big play, run toward the bench area of the Pittsburgh Steelers and posture in a way I that I felt was taunting them."

Marsh hardly ran, but the broader point stands.

The pool reporter then asked if Corrente's bump with Marsh -- apparently at the hip, as Marsh finally headed to the sideline and immediately after the taunting -- influenced his call. 

"No, not at all," Corrente replied. "I didn’t judge that as anything that I dealt with."

None of which, of course, would be corroborated by the guy who got penalized.

"On my way to the sideline, I got hip-checked by the ref," Marsh would say, citing a hockey technique that ... yeah, wasn't this. "It's pretty clear. If I were to do that to a ref or even touch a ref, you know we'd get kicked out of the game, possibly suspended or fined. I just think that was incredibly inappropriate."

No, he doesn't think that. At all. If he did, he'd have had at least the tiniest reaction to it on the field. He had none.

As for the taunting itself, Marsh chose to address the karate-kick gesture rather than what actually earned him the penalty.

“I think that one was just bad timing. It’s pretty clear to everybody who saw it that I wasn’t taunting. I’ve been doing the celebration my whole career. It’s just sad to see stuff like that happen in a close game like that."

Mm-hm. I wouldn't bring up taking seven steps toward the sideline, either, if I were him. Nor would I bring up that, in the replay, it's plain as day that Corrente's reaching for his flag before the bump with Marsh.

It's worthwhile to note that Matt Nagy, the Bears' coach, took zero issue with the call.

"It's an emotional game, but that's not excusing anything," Nagy would say. "We've got to be smart. It's also a point of emphasis this year ... and knowing that it's a point of emphasis, we all as coaches and players gotta make sure you don't even put it in the gray area. You guys did a great job, you worked like hell to get off the field, so come off the field and celebrate with your guys. What they're trying to direct is that, whatever you do, don't do it to your opponent. Do it to your own teammates if you're celebrating or anything like that. Those are the rules, and we've got to follow the rules. Simple as that."

Exactly.

My guess is that most Pittsburgh fans who didn't agree with the call -- and man, I sure read, heard and saw a bunch of that online -- wouldn't be aware of the NFL's increased emphasis for this year or, more likely, just flat-out don't like the rule and don't think it should exist. But both of those are very different than applying existing rules and guidelines, which is what Corrente did.

My guess it that most Chicago fans ... didn't read past my second sentence up there.

This isn't my main column from the game, by the way. That's here. Just felt like this merited at least a mini-column.